Whole and Part Workshop

It all started with the ubiquitous “is this right?” from many different students.  With that we began a series of mini-classes to teach children how to check their subtraction answers by using addition.  We also decided to use this opportunity to try and help children understand the relationship between the “whole and the parts”.  We began with subtraction problems and identified the whole and the part we were taking away. We used circles cut in two parts to help provide a visual.  After arriving at a subtrahend, we had children add the two parts back together to see if they returned them to the original “whole”.  Once children could do that we began to try and help them see the general statements that can be made, entering the world of algebra.

We began to refer to W-P=P, P+P=W, and the hardest W-?=P.  The last was tricky because you really had to understand that you can arrive at any part by subtracting the other. 

New and Goods for Capitals and Punctuation

This year we have a group of children in the 2^nd and 3^rd grades that were ready to develop a better awareness of the conventions of writing, including capitals and punctuation.

We decided that we would use the familiar format of New and Goods but with a different focus.

The first session showed what we suspected.  These young children were already aware of many of the conventions.

Their comments in the first session were:

• You use a capital at the front of a sentence.
• You can put punctuation at the end of a sentence so you know it is done!
• You use capitals at the beginning of your name.
• Capitals are bigger than lower case.
• Capitals can be in the middle of a sentence, i.e., the names of months – July
• Punctuation is --. , !?(  It can be in the middle of a sentence.
• When you use a capital –mostly on the first letter of a word—everything else is lower case.

Our goal has become that they begin to use them in their writing, particularly when we have them revisit their work and we are asking them to edit their writing. 

We had several classes where the students gave New and Goods which was written without capitals or punctuation.

Then, as a group, we went back over the writing and pointed out changes that needed to be made and made them.  More recently we have begun a story (without capitals and punctuation and no paragraphs).  We are asking them to edit the story and perhaps give it an ending.   While it is too early to hold them accountable for paragraphs, we do want them to become aware of their function.

Cooking with Kathy

A favorite Investigations activity for our students is to cook. Besides honing their cooking skills and working together, students connect their math and science knowledge to real life experiences. But everyone agrees that eating the results is the best part.

After picking apples at Beak and Skiff Orchard in the fall, we had lots of apples to cook with. We baked Hot Apple Dumplings, Apple Crisp, and made Caramel Sauce for dipping apple slices.

We had dried beans leftover from an activity at Highland Forest, so, in January, we warmed ourselves making Bean Soup, Chili, and Vegetable-Bean Soup. We also made Bean Salad. Lots of tears were shed over the chopped onions needed for these dishes!

One day we used marshmallows leftover from the Highland Forest overnight to make Rice Crispy Treats.

What cooking opportunities will sprout up next?

Fractions with Kathy

Children in Kathy's fraction class began by reviewing what a fraction is and what its parts represent. We developed our understanding of fractions and equivalent fractions using various tools, such as pattern blocks, fraction bars, pictures, number lines, and brownies. We practiced comparing, ordering, adding, and subtracting fractions. Our growing understanding of fractional relationships is laying the foundation for us to be able to add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators and mixed numbers.

Brain Bank

Emily, Mira, Dash and Jonah are taking part in a class called Brain Bank. Brain Bank is a reading and writing program with science as the main topic. They take turns reading books out loud to each other before completing comprehension, vocabulary or writing activities. They read “Keeping Clean” about how different animals bathe and then worked together on a vocabulary puzzle. “On the Move” was about how humans and various animals run, walk, jump, swim, swing, hang, slide and slither. Each student used information from the book to write their own animal riddle using descriptive clues for the other students to guess. After reading “Down the Drain” about how and where water moves, they collaboratively wrote a story pretending they were goldfish who accidentally get flushed down the drain. They are currently working on individual descriptive writing pieces describing why trees are important after reading “Trees are Terrific.”

Mesopotamia

To finish out our unit about settled people versus nomadic people, students in the youngest group worked with Rebecca to explore what it was like when the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia began. Using the book, They Lived Like This in Ancient Mesopotamia by Marie Neurath, students learned about this ancient culture and how nomadic people became settled.  During classes and investigations, students created first a map with a key on a piece of paper and then with partners created a 3D version using salt dough.  We talked about why they settled between the two rivers and what their daily lives were like.

Math Table

Our oldest two students have been participating in a math table all year where we work on math topics that include adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals, fractions and multi-digit numbers.  We’ve also worked on deductive thinking and story problems.

Fractions

Children in Rebecca’s fraction class started with a quick review of what a fraction is, the parts of a fraction and how to add and subtract fractions with like denominators.  We then moved on to equalizing fractions, reducing fractions and what a factor and multiple are.  Using our knowledge of equivalence, factors and multiples we have delved into adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators as well as adding and subtracting mixed numbers.  Now we are challenging ourselves with subtracting mixed numbers when you have to borrow for the whole number.